image from pokertournamentwatch.com

"Friends and Family". A term used by poker reporters to show that the remaining players may not exactly live in the poker limelight like a Gavin Smith, Phil Helmuth, or Scotty Nguyen. One might use that term to describe the remaining field at the 2008 PokerNews Cup Main Event after several "big named" players such as Mark Vos, and brothers Joe and Tony Hachem have busted from days 1a and 1b.

But, there's a few stories left to be written as the overnight chip leader, Dory Zayneh, happens to be the defending champion of the event and is looking to capture the 250,000 AUD$ first place prize. If you watched the 2008 $10,000 World Series of Poker Pot Limit Omaha championship event on ESPN, or know your Aussie pros, then another familiar face near the top of the leaderboard of one Billy "The Croc" Argyros will provide a few laugh for the rail as day two starts tomorrow.

78 of the original 239 players remain and 38 more will be eliminated from the Crown Casino hosted event before players will pocket at least 4,100 AUD$ for their efforts.

For the live reporting on the event, check out PokerNews.com's coverage here.

The November Nine.

Remember them?

Yes, the final nine players from the 2008 World Series of Poker's Main Event are coming soon to the televison screen near you to play out the remaining hands and this year's World Champion. Among the final nine, six of them signed with PokerStars.net to proudly display their wares on various visible body parts for the "live" telecast from ESPN of the final table. The waiting experiment will come to its peak soon to see the sponsorship drawing of WSOP final table.

One such PokerStars.net sponsored player, the chip leader Dennis phillips, will be considered the hottest commodity at the table. Given his chip advantage to win it all and probable length of air time on the nationally televised table the real estate on his shirt will be worth some decent coin...

... for a charity

Thanks to PokerStars and Ebay, there is an auction that started yesterday to give the proceeds of a prime spot of advertising on Phillips' shirt to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Below is the press release on how businesses can line up for this great way to benefit the MS Society and get a little back in the form of face time on a huge ESPN production.

Follow this link to the auction.

2008 World Series of Poker® Chip Leader Urges
Corporate America to Go 'All In' To Fight Multiple Sclerosis

Dennis Phillips Hosts Charity Auction on eBay with Winner Featured on ESPN Telecast

LAS VEGAS, October 14, 2008: Stakes at the Final Table of the 2008 World Series of Poker® just got a little higher. This year, Chip Leader Dennis Phillips will host an auction on eBay (www.ebay.com), for a prime logo spot on his jersey with all proceeds going to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

From October 16-26, 2008, companies and individuals can bid for a logo placement on Dennis Phillips' jersey, which will be in position as he competes at the Final Table of the 2008 World Series of Poker. The event will be broadcast on November 11, 2008 to millions of ESPN households around the world, as Dennis vies for more than $9 million dollars. The 2008 WSOP final table is expected to be the most-watched night in televised poker history and is guaranteed to be re-broadcasted at least eight times across ESPN networks.

Phillips, a long-time supporter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, is from St. Louis, Missouri. He became deeply involved in the fight against MS when his brother was diagnosed with it over ten years ago.

"Being on the Final Table of the WSOP is an opportunity of a lifetime, but we hope that this opportunity will one day save someone's life," said Phillips.

Phillips is currently sponsored by PokerStars.net, and is the odds-on favorite to win the title of Main Event champion. He already has donated money to a number of worthy causes since reaching the final table in July, including The Pujols Family Foundation. He has committed to donate 1% of his final table winnings to 'Put a Bad Beat on Cancer,' which PokerStars.net will match in full.

"We are thrilled to be a part of such an exciting promotion that will ultimately help us continue to move towards a world free of MS," said Phyllis Robsham, president of the Gateway Area Chapter, "The awareness and funds raised through Dennis' effort will help us to continue our work for the over 6,000 people living with MS in our area."

"We are appreciative of Dennis' efforts to encompass charitable endeavors and wish him and the MS society tremendous success on and off the felt, said World Series," of Poker marketing and sponsorship director Ty Stewart.

The eBay auction begins on October 16, 2008 at 8 a.m. EST. Sponsor subject to the official WSOP rules.

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society

MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn't. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. In 2006 alone, throughout home office and 50 state networks of chapters, we devoted nearly $126 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested more than $46 million to support 380 research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS NOW. Join the movement at nationalmssociety.org.

Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at www.nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800- 344-4867. You may also contact your local Gateway Area Chapter at www.gatewayMSsociety.org or 314-781-9020.

Something fresh has flown into Full Tilt and its going to take some multi-tabling skillz for people to appreciate it. The new "Matrix" SnGs are now open to the public which pit the same six or nine players against each other in four different SnG's running concurrently with the positions being the only different factor.

The fun begins when the usual six or nine players register for the tournament and four table simultaneously appear on your screen pitting against the same six or nine players for five different prize pools. The payments for each individual tourney are the same as two places pay out for six player SnGs and three places for the nine players ones. The fun part comes with the matrix prize pool which awards the same places as the table, but via an individual's "Matrix Score" determines who wins the final prize pool.

You receive two points towards this pool from knocking out an opponent, one point for outlasting someone, and two bonus points for winning a table. Obviously, using a more aggressive style to attain KOs is necessary to be in the running for that Matrix Pool pay out. After playing a few, I can suggest using the following formula for choose the correct level of play: x * 4 = Matrix SnG buy-in amount (X = your normal amount/level of SnG play).

Find these exciting new SnGs under the Sit and Go tab, then choose the Matrix tab.

PokerNews.com, not just a place to get your poker news from anymore as player are making their own poker news from The second edition of the of the PokerNews Cup is currently running down under at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia.

The week long tournament series is reeling in the traveling pros (such as renown high-stakes player Tony G and and Full Tilt sponsored Mark Vos), and it is certainly not short on giving poker enthusiast a shot at a decent score for the price of a local card room daily tournament. While the prize pools may not make a millionaire a minute in Melbourne, they are stocked with players thirsty for a score in the eight event series.

Four events are already in the books, like Event #1's $230 NLHE event was won by Harry Ligos who took home $17,732 after finding pocket queens when his heads-up opponent Michael Bancroft shoved with T5o while trying to come back from a 5:1 chip deficit.

As always PokerNews.com has some of the best live tournament reporting in the world, and their own crew is at the Crown Casino capturing all the exciting hands for us internet poker junkies.

Check out the live blogging of the 2008 PokerNews cup via this link.

Can Kentucky regulate something that does not exist in Kentucky?

There lies the rub of the huge lawsuit that pits the special interest of Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear who has been increasingly forthcoming about his reasons behind the historic lawsuit. This of course has to do with the Governor trying to block online gambling in his state via seizure of domain names by the Kentucky government.

Beshear has admitted this is an attempt to "protect" the other gambling interest in the state such as its world-renown horse racing tracks. Webmasters and other industry have been in Kentucky for weeks now while making the simple argument that their servers do not exist in Kentucky (and to make a further point, most do not exist in United States).

Judge Thomas Wingate, who is presiding over the case, will be making a ruling on this case in attempt to gage what jurisdiction a state (or a country for that matter) has on a website if it allows the activity of the website to go on within its state (country) borders.

For the AP story, check out Forbes.com here.

image from parttimepoker.com

World Poker Tour, while trying to get their feet back on the ground after seeing lowered attendance throughout the recent season and moving from the Game Show Network to Fox Sports Net has a little something new going on.

ClubWPT is the World Poker Tour's poker website which is legal in the US since essentially it's a free site which you pay a subscription fee to join. Recently the ClubWPT $5,000 SnG debuted its first WPT show with the new address. California Jen from Pokerati watched the show today and has some mixed feelings about the extremely amateur players who seemingly were feeling the clay chips for the first time.

To qualify for the $5,000 SnG the players won their respective tournaments online via ClubWPT's site. The cameras brought to life a different kind of TV poker as the players seemed to be getting their first crack at reaching for chips versus a slide bar on their laptops.

Here's a little sound bite of the play below from Cali Jen (for the complete article go here to Pokerati):

And the players. Oh, the players. The whole idea of the show is to put the online players in a new setting and see what happens, but what happened was almost embarrassing. Every other play had me shaking my head, either at the betting amounts or the cards they were playing. And more than once, a player acted out of turn.

image from PokerStarsBlog.com

If anyone knows the secret to Jason Mercier's and John Juanda's recent strings of success please let me know before my miniscule bankroll ends up in Sweden via Full Tilt and PokerStars playing Pot Limit Omaha.

First Juanda's success over seas started earlier last week pulling down another World Series of Poker bracelet into his collection by winning the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. He wasn't done there as Juanda skipped across town after the EPT London main event finished and the £1 Million Showdown was starting up.

The $35,000 (or £20,000) buy-in was one of the biggest on any poker tour and gathered up a sizable £516,000 first prize. Juanda couldn't quite pull off the double victory in London as he succumbed to an even hotter player in Jason Mercier. As you can read in the media release from PokerStars below, the 21-year old Mercier has been on a tear overseas as he too found success at the WSOPE by making the final table of the Pot Limit Omaha event.

Check out the details of Mercier's victory in the Million Pound Showdown over Juanda and a table of well-respected pros below:

AMERICAN JASON MERCIER WINS £1 MILLION SHOWDOWN AT EUROPEAN POKER TOUR LONDON HIGH ROLLER EVENT

LONDON, UK, October 6, 2008 - Jason Mercier, a 21-year old math teacher from Fort Lauderdale, Fl, took home $903,080 (£516,000) after winning the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) London £1 Million Showdown at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London. Mercier beat out over 86 of the world's top players in the first $35,000 (£20,000) buy-in high roller event held at an EPT tournament.

"I'm feeling pretty good right now," said Mercier. "It's been a great 2008 for me so far and I look forward to continuing my success. It's funny to think that this all started by winning a satellite tournament on PokerStars that sent me to my first EPT and first live tournament win."

Mercier found himself on a final table with three WSOP bracelet winners including the legendary Scotty Nguyen, John Juanda and David Benyamine. Also joining Mercier at the table was Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier who finished ninth for $ 89,347 (£51,000) and Canadian Michael Watson captain of the Canadian team at the PokerStars World Cup of Poker last year in Barcelona.

Mercier was able to manoeuvre through the star-studded final table to find himself heads up with Juanda, who recently won the World Series of Poker Europe main event. Mercier was able to make short work of Juanda by doubling up through the recent champion on their first hand against each other. Mercier eventually eliminated the four-time WSOP bracelet winner when he was dealt KQ; the same hand, that won him the San Remo event. John raised from the button and Jason Mercier moved all-in. Juanda called and turned over AJ, but the flop gave Jason a winning King-high straight.

Mercier first started to make a name for him self in April 2008 when he won the EPT San Remo, Italy event for $1,372,893 in the fastest final table in EPT history. Mercier won his seat to the EPT San Remo through a PokerStars satellite tournament. The EPT London High Roller Event is Mercier's eighth professional cash, fourth final table and second major win in 2008. Mercier's victory in one of the toughest fields ever assembled in Europe, came only a week after he made the final table of the WSOP Europe Pot Limit Omaha event and less than a month after his sixth place finish at EPT5 Barcelona for $310,354 (€227,800).

The stars who played in the high-roller event included Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari, Barry Greenstein, Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier, Joe Hachem, Dario Minieri, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Luca Pagano and Greg Raymer as well as Gus Hansen, Chris Ferguson, Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey.

Five of the PokerStars 'Million Dollar Men' competed, as well as five players who won their seats online at PokerStars including Sorel Mizzi and Soren Kongsgaard. PokerStars 'Million Dollar Man' Dennis Phillips finished tenth.

Name Country Dollars Pounds
1 Jason Mercier USA 903,080 516,000
2 John Juanda USA 572,871 327,000
3 Michael Watson Canada 422,207 241,000
4 Peter Jetten Canada 331,109 189,000
5 Scotty Nguyen USA 240,886 137,500
6 Isaac Haxton USA 180,445 103,000
7 Masaaki Kagawa Japan 150,663 86,000
8 David Benyamine France 120,881 69,000
9 Isabelle Mercier Canada 90,222 51,500

The next stop on the PokerStars European Poker Tour is the $5,926 (€4,350) buy-in Budapest event running from October 28 - November 1 at the Las Vegas Casino, Sofitel Hotel. This is the first EPT Open in Hungary, following on from the success of recent EPT launches in Prague and Warsaw during Season 4. For more information, please visit http://www.ept.com.

image from PokerStarsBlog.com

John Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship while the ninth alternate. While not a "major" an European Poker Tour victory is a large boa-sized feather in anyone's cap. Michael Martin took his 105th alternate card to even enter the London EPT event, and won it after getting down to a mere couple of big blinds while at the final table.

After taking out pro Eric Liu and Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki in fourth and third place respectively, Martin won the final coin flip versus Mike Tureniec to claim the PokerStars guaranteed £1,000,000 first prize.

Check out the full media outline on Martin's continued success in the EPT (making the EPT Grand Finale final table last year):

MICHAEL MARTIN WINS POKERSTARS EPT LONDON MAIN EVENT

LONDON, UK, October 6, 2008 -Michael Martin, of Washington Crossing, PA, won the fifth PokerStars European Poker Tour London Open - and a record $2 million (£1 million) first prize.

Michael was down to just 95,000 in chips when a series of incredible hands resulted in a miracle comeback in less than ten minutes. He then knocked out pro Eric Liu in fourth place and Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki in third place to go heads-up against Swedish PokerStars qualifier Mike Tureniec. In the final hand, Michael had pocket fours (44) against Mike's K 9. A four on the turn secured him the coveted EPT champion title.

Martin, 24, a former college hockey player from Penn State, was 105th on the waiting list to play in the London tournament and very nearly caught a flight home before managing to secure a seat in the sell-out event. His stunning victory follows his fifth-place finish at last season's EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo and second place in the Amsterdam Master Classics last year.

"It has been surreal. I had less than two big blinds and then, just three hands later I was on 1.4 million," said Martin about his amazing comeback. "But I just knew I was going to do something here and having my family watching made me even more determined."

Martin's mother Nancy and girlfriend Jen had flown in overnight from the States to rail him at the final table.

A total of 596 players, including 234 PokerStars players, entered the $9,050 (£5,200) buy-in EPT London Open creating a prize pool of $5,826,418 (£3,349,200). Among those who competed were German tennis legend and PokerStars ambassador Boris Becker, as well as 22 Team PokerStars Pros including World Champions Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker, PCA champion Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Season 3 EPT London winner Vicky Coren.

Also sponsored into the event were four of the PokerStars Million Dollar Men - the WSOP finalists Ylon Schwartz, Peter Eastgate, Darus Suharto and David "Chino" Rheem as well as EPT Season 5 Barcelona champion Sebastian Ruthenberg, Italian slalom ski champion Alberto Tomba, American WSOP bracelet winner Kathy Liebert, and Brazilian Indy stock car racer Gualter Salles.

"This year's EPT London has been a phenomenal success with a record amount of players," said John Duthie, Executive Producer of the EPT. "An amazing standard of players competed at this event for the record £1 million first prize."

The next stop on the PokerStars EPT is the $7,568 (£4,350) Budapest event from October 28 - November 1 at the Las Vegas Casino in the Sofitel Hotel. This is the first EPT Open in Hungary, following the success of recent EPT launches in Prague and Warsaw during Season 4. For more information on upcoming EPT events, please visit http://www.ept.com.

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Photos can be found at the following links:
http://www.yousendit.com/download/bVlBblFITWNTRTVFQlE9PQ
http://www.yousendit.com/download/bVlBblFNR3M1UjVjR0E9PQ

About PokerStars:
PokerStars is the world's largest online poker room (with 15 million players worldwide) and also the #1 poker tournament site. As the premier destination for the top players - with over 100,000 tournaments running every day-PokerStars is renowned for offering the best software and security in the online poker world.
PokerStars;

• Has dealt over 20 billion hands
• Has run more than 100 million poker tournaments
• Entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the first and only poker website to reach the 160,000 simultaneous players mark

PokerStars is the official sponsor of: The European Poker Tour (www.ept.com), PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour (www.lapt.com), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (www.appt.com) and The World Cup of Poker.

PokerStars is the home of Team PokerStars Pro, a group of 30 veteran and up-and-coming players from around the world who play online at PokerStars and are sponsored by the site in international tournaments around the world. For more information please visit www.pokerstars.net.

image from dp-poker.doeve.de

Duplicate Poker now you see it, now you don't. The online poker room that brought a brand of poker not seen elsewhere is shutting its doors down according to an article from Gambling911.com

The poker room was built on the premise that the type of poker they offered was not subject to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and legal in the United States. Basically, you played the same hand as someone on a different tables sitting in the same seat then won/lost more based on how you played the hand better/worse.

A short email from the Duplicate Poker team about the shut down, plus a cool snippet from the Gambling911.com article showing the New York-based company was showing signs of a positive future just two week ago:

Duplicate is sadly bidding farewell to its players. Caught in the middle of the global financial situation the company is not able to continue to provide service. We are a small victim of the global financial crisis.
Regretfully as of the today, October 5th, 2008 we are closing our service. We thank our players for being with us. Hopefully at later time and in a better economic climate Duplicate Poker will re-appear.

Sincerely,
The Duplicate Poker Team

It was just two weeks ago that DuplicatePoker.com claimed it was a thriving online poker room operating from - of all places - New York City. In fact, they announced their milestone 250,000th player.

More jerseys, more prizes, more cool football avatars to be awarded at the tenth edition of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series. The seemingly random yet popular tournament series at Full Tilt is back again for 25 events starting up on November 5th with a $216 6-max NLHE tourney and ending with the $2.5 million guarantee Main Event on November 16th.

Per the FTOPS page on FullTiltPoker.com none of the hosting pros have been selected yet but the dates, buy-ins, and usual decent assortment of games, table sizes and higher stakes will attract the usual online sharks as well as those climbing the satellite ladders to search for that one big score that vaults a player beyond happy meal money.

For the promotions surrounding the series click here

For the schedule click here

For directions on making pigs in a blanket click here